


On the habits of Ramkin's lesser Eastern snub-nosed dragon, an excerpt

by jetpackrat



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dragons, Gen, Me: ok what if Dian Fossey but dragons??!, Princesses, tfw no one appreciates the precarious balance of delicate ecosystems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetpackrat/pseuds/jetpackrat
Summary: [Writing Prompt] A beautiful princess sets off to slay the knight in shining armor and save the dragon.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	On the habits of Ramkin's lesser Eastern snub-nosed dragon, an excerpt

There were five of the scaly brutes; blue and gold beasts the size of ponies, sunning themselves on the cliffside while a handful of whelps played and scampered around them. Bennett loosened his spear - they hadn't spotted him yet, but if he could get one of the big males down quickly there was a chance the rest would scatter, giving him time to search their den.

A few of the whelps were tussling over something- one broke free and with a sinking feeling he saw that it was a shredded rucksack. Well, that answered the question of what happened to the princess. He'd tracked her to this mountain but he'd clearly been too late to save her from a grisly fate. Nothing left to do but clear the beasts out and - click.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Bennett turned around slowly. Standing there was a very angry-looking woman with a very large crossbow pointed directly at his chest.

"I don't mean to alarm you, miss," he said carefully, "but there's a pack of dragons down that hill. They're highly dangerous, and I suggest you let me deal with them first before-"

"First of all," said the woman irritably, "it's a flight, not a pack. Second, those are Ramkin's lesser Eastern snub-nosed dragons and they don't eat people, their diet consists primarily of goats and alpine unicorns, and whatever supplies they find in unsecured campsites. They're also endangered, so unless you'd like to spend the next six months in a dungeon I suggest you rethink whatever you were planning to do with that spear. And finally, I am fully aware they are there. I've spent the last two weeks getting them used to my presence so I can gather notes for my monograph, and if you've jeopardized my research in any way we are going to have a serious problem."

Bennett studied her. Short, slightly disheveled, wearing sturdy trousers, spectacles and a vest with an absurd number of pockets, but clearly someone who was used to giving orders and having them obeyed...

"Princess Marah sul-Amarr?" he hazarded.

"That's Doctor sul-Amarr to you," snapped the princess. "Did the university send you? I was promised funding until the end of the month."

"What? No, I was looking for the dragons-"

"Ah," said Dr. sul-Amarr. He hadn't though you could pack that much disdain into one syllable. "A poacher, then. I can tell you now that no amount of ground- up scales are going to cure impotence or hair loss or whatever idiotic superstition they've come up with now." She gestured wildly with the crossbow, waving it uncomfortably near his nether regions. "Do you know how far the range of the snub-nosed dragon used to extend? And now there's only a handful of flights left on the mountain. They're a keystone predator! Do you know what kind of ecological devastation would be caused by an unchecked population explosion of alpine unicorns? They're voracious omnivores! Forests stripped bare! Farmlands razed to stubble! If you -"

She might have been a dragon expert but this was hardly Bennett's first time at the wrong end of a crossbow. He waited until she'd half-turned from him to wave emphatically at the dragon clearing, then dropped and snapped out at her knees with the butt of his spear. She went down hard, and suddenly found herself blinking up at her own crossbow, now in the knight's hands.

"First of all," said Bennett evenly, "your father sent me. I was under the impression that you were in some distress. You have to admit the crown they're teething on didn't help."

"Oh for...how many times do I have to tell him? I'm not coming back. I've spent my life studying draconian ecology and I've got a shot at tenure - one of my cousins can take the bloody throne."

Bennett shrugged. "Not my problem. They paid me to bring you back, so back we go."

She glanced from him to the crossbow, clearly weighing her odds of getting it back from him. Bennett cleared his throat.

She sighed. "Fine. Just allow me to retrieve a few things from my camp first. At least the last few weeks won't have been a complete waste."

He followed her down a narrow trail, further into the woods. Something she said still lingered in his mind.

"So, big market for dragon scales, huh?

The princess looked at him sharply. "I suppose. It's an entirely baseless superstition but there's no limit to human greed and idiocy."

Hm. Well, a little extra income wouldn't go amiss. If they were as harmless as she said, it wouldn't be any trouble to kill a couple and see what he could salvage. This job might turn out to be even more profitable than he'd hoped.

The princess had stopped, and was still looking at him suspiciously. He tried to adopt a neutral expression. "How much further."

"Just through here," she gestured to a gap between two wide trees, leading to another clearing. Bennett could see the edge of a tent further in. He nodded and stepped through, and with a sharp yank suddenly found himself upside down and several feet above the forest floor.

"As I mentioned," said the princess, collecting her crossbow from beneath his dangling form, "I've had some trouble with poachers. Best to take precautions." She began to break down her small camp quickly.

"You can't leave me here!" cried Bennett. "What if the dragons find me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," smiled Dr. sul-Amarr. "I told you, Ramkin's lesser Eastern snub-nose doesn't prey on humans." She hefted her gear onto her back, cupped her hands, and let out a warbling shriek. Far off in the distance, a deeper, much more terrifying shriek replied. "Ramkin's greater Eastern snub-nose is an entirely different matter."

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Reddit writing prompt and I'm very proud of the fact that i actually made something coherent in two hours. I'm sure there's a ton of errors, this was typed entirely on mobile. Thank you for reading!


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